Fishing Report 1 Dec 2016 COD SEASON OPENS WOO HOO

The Kezza Codculla is a locally handcrafted timber lure that’s finish is second to none these lures are proven cod catchers and now that cod season is open they are a must for the tacklebox there is a number of great colours and they are deep diving.

Cooby dam

Cooby has produced some good fishing this week especially in the late afternoon with some nice yellowbelly and cod being taken from in amongst the weeds, fishing your baits and lures as close to the weed beds as possible is the key to enticing the fish out. Trolling shallow divers and Jackalls near the weeds has worked really well, there has also been some fish caught jigging ZX blades and soft Jackalls around the rock wall. For the bait fisherman live shrimp and saltwater yabbies have been best while live worms have produced plenty of catfish.

Leslie dam

Still plenty of legal fish being landed at Leslie, mostly up the dam wall end of the lake hopping and jigging blades and soft vibes around the boulders and out from the rocky banks has seen the most fish while live shrimp and saltwater yabbies have worked great in similar areas. There has also been some smaller cod landed. Trolling lures has seen a few fish caught but not as productive as working the one spot.

Coolmunda dam

With the lake starting to clear up and the weather heating up Coolmunda is becoming the more popular destination as it’s renowned for big cod and last summer was really producing some good fish. So far we have started to see some better fishing with a few nice cod being trolled up on deep diving hard bodies around the creek bed and the edge of the timber lines while the yellowbelly have been found in small schools and jigging blades and vibes has worked really well once the fish have been located. For the bait angler live shrimp and salt water yabbies fished along the edge of the timbers has worked well.

Bjelke Petersen dam

BP continues to fire as the bass and yellowbelly have schooled up in large numbers and continue to bite well. The schools are thick with fish but there isn’t just one school there are a number so that after catching few from one school and the fish may slow a bit you can move on to the next school. The fish are out in the main basin area in depths from 20-30ft lures with blades have worked best like spinnerbaits, tailspinners and beetle spins but most sinking lures have worked well using your fish finder. To locate the schools is the key but they aren’t too hard to find, BP is a lake worth fishing this summer.

Condamine River

Some good reports of yellowbelly being landed in parts of the Condamine from Clifton to Millmerran, mainly on lures most anglers have been using gold or yellow hardbody lures that are about 65mm in length casting them around the snags. Bait fishing hasn’t been as productive covering ground is the key and if you can use a kayak and work more banks you will have better success.

Cressbrook dam

Some decent size bass being landed in the early mornings and throughout the mid morning trolling deep diving hard bodies threw the middle of the lake in the main basin. While trolling it would be key to keep an eye on the fish finder and if you can locate some fish schooling up they would be worth fishing with tailspinners and blades jigged on the bottom, as for the bait fishing live shrimp is a must for Cressbrook.

Gold coast (offshore)

The conditions are shaping up nicely around the Gold Coast with plenty of big kingfish getting around the reefs and a few dolphin fish starting to show up. The currents are flowing in and it won’t be long before the dolphin fish and tuna are thick around the headlands of the Gold Coast, it’s the perfect time to start trolling your spread of skirts and lures around having the opportunity for any of the pelagic to hook on including marlin.

Tip of the week

This week cod season officially opens it has had a 3 month spell from fishing while they breed. This is the best time to hit to rivers for murray cod as they have had no fishing pressure and will be hungry after spawning. Rivers like the Condamine, Dumaresq, Macintyre and Balonne are all part of the closed areas and should be worth a fish in the coming weeks.

Kayla Palaniuk with an 18kg kingfish caught of the gold coast on live bait